WISCONSIN RAPIDS — High school students who like the idea of taking an online course but don't necessarily want to forgo the interaction with their teachers have a new option.

Blended courses — classes where students split their time between between online instruction and face-to-face teaching — are increasingly becoming an alternative course in curricula at high schools and junior high schools.

Unlike virtual programs, in which a teenager might do all his or her coursework on a computer, students in these blended courses often are enrolled in traditional classes on campus as well.

And although only a select number of these hybrid courses are available in the central Wisconsin school districts, they are starting to become more popular as school administrators begin to recognize the benefits these courses can reap for students and teachers.

Lincoln High School in Wisconsin Rapids offers students a chance to take a blended course — a hybrid personal finance class with 32 students enrolled — but the district plans to bring more options in the future.

Next year, the Wisconsin Rapids Public Schools will introduce blended courses in economics and English. And Lincoln High School's principal, Ronald Rasmussen, said he anticipates the number of these courses will continue to grow.

In particular, Rasmussen said offering these blended courses, which already exist at the university level, to high school students gives them an opportunity to try a differently-structured course in a setting where they still have high levels of support from their parents and teachers.

"They are getting the college experience in high school, where we have those support systems (in place)," Rasmussen said.

The Stevens Point Area Public School District also offers these half-online, half-traditional classes. So far, the district operates three hybrid classes in the high school and two in the junior high school, said Kehl Arnson, the district's director of secondary education.

Specifically, Arnson noted that these courses are excellent alternatives for students who might need more personalization and variety in their education.

He also emphasized that these courses give students independence in their time management and flexibility in their schedule. For some with very busy schedules, blended courses are optimal as they allow the student to do the online classwork during weekends and evenings.

"I think that it allows students to take additional courses in areas that they might otherwise have not been able to," Arnson said.

This is the fifth year the blended course option has existed in Stevens Point Area Senior High, and Arnson said he anticipates that they will continue to grow the blended courses as students ask for them. So far, the most popular blended course is a personal finance class.

At the School District of Marshfield, hybrid course options aren't catching on quite as quickly. The district offers one blended course — Advanced Placement Statistics — but there is not a huge demand from students to introduce more, said Dave Roeglin, assistant principal at Marshfield High School.

Roeglin noted that the school emphasizes the structure that comes with face-to-face, daily interaction with the teacher.

"We found that there were a lot of high school students not prepared for online work because there was not enough structure," Roeglin said.

Still, technology still plays a big role in instruction, Roeglin said, adding that Marshfield offers students enrolled on campus the ability to take online courses taught by their teachers.

"I know our teachers have used a lot of online resources and they have integrated them into their face-to-face classes," he said.

Although blended courses have advantages, there can be some hurdles in ensuring that all students have access to the class, said Rasmussen. Because such courses depend on a student's access to computers and Internet, students with limited resources may be deterred — but they still can participate. Rasmussen noted that a student could use the technology resources at the library or even periodically rent out a laptop from the school to participate.

Still, these newly formatted courses incite curiosity, and they aren't just piquing the interest of students, but of teachers, too. Arnson said he's observed a growing interest within his faculty to learn how to teach such classes.

"We have a lot of teachers who want to get more teaching on how to get that online instruction," Arnson said.

Melanie Lawder can be reached at mlawder@cwnews.net or 715-423-7200. Find her on Twitter as @mel_lawder.